The Perfect Ending
by TNT-DynaMITE
Summary: For a love that is like no other, you need an ending like no other. What is the perfect ending for Nathan Scott and Haley James? A twist on Season Four Episode Ten: Songs to Love and Die By. Naley/One-Shot/SongFic


'Ello, loves.

I know I promised an update for my story **Life in Technicolor** [which if you haven't read, you totes should], but I really got inspired by this song I heard and One Tree Hill. So this is a one shot, and its called **The Perfect Ending**. It's **NH** centered, and its based off the song '_What Sarah Said_' by Death Cab for Cutie. I suggest everyone listen to this song, because it's a great one. The story takes place during season four episode ten: **Songs to Love and Die By**.

Please check out my other one shot called, **Goodnight and Go**.

Reviews, would be absolutely brilliant, so if you have anything at all to say about this fan fiction, please let me know! I wanna read the good, the bad, and the ugly. Any opinions are welcome!

Well, enjoy!

* * *

**The Perfect Ending**

Tonight, Nathan Royal Scott was captain of the Tree Hill Ravens. Tonight, he was star shooting guard of the Tree Hill Ravens. Tonight, he was brother to Lucas Eugene Scott. Tonight, Nathan was a champion. Tonight, Nathan learned that he was to be the future father of a son. Tonight was a night of celebration for Nathan Scott and his family and friends. Tonight, new relationships would be solidified as one Scott realizes that the one girl he wants standing next to him when all his dreams come true is a certain Peyton Sawyer. Tonight, new friendships would be created as a plan is hatched between Brooke Davis and Rachel Gatina to steal the answers to a Calculus test. Tonight, a father and son would bond for the first time in seventeen years as Dan Scott attempts to have an amiable conversation with his oldest son. But in a matter of mere seconds, none of this matters and all of this is forgotten as a car is started, a scream, "NATHAN! Look out!" is heard, and Haley James Scott is hit by a car.

_And it came to me then that every plan is a tiny prayer to father time_

The plan was to throw the game, but since when did plans ever go the way they should. The plan was to go home with his wife, with his unborn son, and just relax. The celebration had caught up to this Scott family, and the plan was to go home and celebrate there, but this prayer to father time, this single prayer was going unanswered.

_As I stared at my shoes in the ICU that reeked of piss and 409_

Broken ribs, head trauma, the baby, Haley. Nathan Scott's thoughts were running wild, as he took in his setting. He had seen the walls of this hospital too many times to like it, had seen the faces of those doctors, and the pity in the eyes of the nurses too many times for any of this to actually be real. Nathan tried to keep his thoughts in check, tried to keep his emotions in check. Too many things were going through his head, his heart, for him to breathe. And the only thing he could think of, the only thing that seemed clear to him through all the chaos, was this: 'It's all my fault.'

"It's all my fault," he said out loud to no one, coming to the full realization that he had set the wheels in motion for what was happening now. He was to blame. He was the reason that the love of his life, the one special thing in his life, was fighting for her life, was fighting for the life of their child. Nathan wanted to punch something, anything. Anything to make himself hurt, to make himself feel the pain that he knew Haley had felt when she was hit by that car. He just wanted to feel. Feel something because right now, he was totally and completely numb. Suddenly, Nathan got his wish, and he felt a sharp pain at his side.

"_The scar stopped hurting when my heart stopped hurting, right around the time you came home."_

The scar from his own accident was the cause of the quick pain he had just felt, but when that pain stopped, he felt an even deeper pain, a pain that stemmed from his heart. He could feel his heart literally breaking. Nothing ever went how it should for Nathan and Haley. Never. They were supposed to be together, always and forever, but that was thrown for a loop when Chris Keller decided to invade their lives. They were supposed to have this perfect grand wedding in front of their family and friends, but a collision with a limo had ruined that, and now this. A day, which was supposed to be filled with happiness and celebration for the couple, was turning into a nightmare no one could imagine. He had found out that he would the father of a son. He had won the state championships.

"_We're all going to be fine."_

Those were the last words she had uttered before it ended.

Nathan suddenly came to a realization. He wasn't meant for happiness, he never was. He was damned from birth. With a father like Dan Scott, there was no way there was any room for happiness to survive in his life. Everything he ever loved and everything he ever cared for always somehow went awry, and it was happening now in the biggest way possible.

"Haley and the baby, they're going to die…" he muttered to himself as he put his head in his hands fully realizing the weight of the words he had just said.

"Nathan?"

_And I rationed my breaths as I said to myself that I'd already taken too much today_

"I wish I had died under that water."

Nathan knew he shouldn't have acted the way he did with Peyton and Brooke, but they had caught Nathan at time when he was looking for a release, and they, unfortunately, bared the brunt of it. He had hurried past them both and out of the hospital as quickly as he could. He couldn't breathe in there, it was way too much for him take. He had walked until he couldn't walk any longer finding himself at the place where he wished death had come to him. Rapid memories of the events of the bridge came to him. He saw himself jumping in the water, trying to save Rachel and Cooper, but those weren't the visions that were causing the tears to flow freely from his eyes. It was the vision of Haley James Scott.

The water had turned into a mirror of sorts for him, where he saw flashes of moments he had with Haley. He saw the first time he had kissed her, and how gorgeous she looked as the sun shined on her and her face was challenging him to make his move. She was daring him to move. He saw the moment where he told he could love her forever, and saw the love he had for her mirrored in her eyes and decided right there and then that he would marry her. His life was flashing before his eyes. His Haley was so close that he could almost reach her, but as fast as the flashes came they were gone. It was only him and the water once more. The water he hated for not letting him drown.

"Why'd you have to save me Keith?!"

_For Haley, for your son_. Nathan heard a voice inside his head, which he chose to ignore as he continued yelling into the night's sky. He knew he was still alive for them. In his heart he knew why he was still on this earth, but the reason for his living was lying in a hospital bed tied up to tubes and machines barely breathing. How could anyone justify his survival for their death? How could anyone want the death of someone as precious and as innocent as Haley. How? How could anyone wish harm upon an unborn child? Questions went unanswered for Nathan Scott, both those that were spoken out loud and those that were thought only in his mind. He found no peace at the bridge, instead there was more turmoil replacing the little calm he had salvaged.

Everything was falling apart.

Everyone was falling apart.

Everyone was leaving. 'Ha, Peyton was right for once,' Nathan mused. His father was in jail, serving a sentence for something he had done. His uncle had died months before. His mother was god knows where, and probably high off of something. His brother, well, Lucas was fighting for his life. And then there was Haley. Probably the only person that mattered, and the one person that was suffering the most. And all Nathan could do was blame himself over and over again.

Why was his father in jail? For him.

Why was his mother high? Because she chose drugs over him.

Why was Lucas in the hospital? Because he hadn't taken his medication like he was supposed to so he could make up for Nathan's wanting to throw the game.

Why was Haley in the hospital? Because he didn't throw the game like he was supposed to.

_As each descending peak on the LCD took you a little farther away from me_

Haley James Scott managed to look beautiful even as she laid there covered in bandages and hospital attire. All the wires and tubes and beeps couldn't take away from the fact that Nathan Scott's breath was always taken away when his eyes saw her. Her beauty was hers and hers alone, and it delved deeper than just her skin, it filled Haley completely. God, he was so in love with her. He couldn't imagine what life was like before she had entered his life. Well, to be more precise, he had more barged into her little haven with Lucas, but all's fair in love.

No. Nothing was fair about this. Nothing at all.

Nathan shook his head, trying to shake his thoughts out, simultaneously.

"So, trying to compete with Lucas huh? You two and your games," Nathan said half heartedly. If he thought good thoughts, maybe just maybe he'd be able to help her recovery. He'd be able to will her to get better. All she had to do was wake up that was it.

"He's not doing too good either, so you need to wake up, honey. You have to wake up so he can wake up, and everything can really be fine," Nathan could barely speak the words without having tears form in his eyes, "You said we would all be fine. Please, just please?" Nathan was pleading with her, begging her to just hear him and wake up, just wake up.

"What do you need me to do, Hales? How can I wake you up? Anything, I promise, I'll do anything, just help me out here. I can't…..I can't do this alone." He couldn't do anything alone. Ever since Haley came into his life, waking up in the morning could only be done if she was there by his side. He could only breathe knowing that she was breathing with him, right by his side, like it was meant to be, like it was supposed to be.

"Haley, you're my tutor remember? Help me solve this riddle, help me help you. Do this one little thing for me okay? I promise, after this I'm at your beck and call. I need to take care of you and our son. Haley, if not for me, for our son. Please?" Nathan pleaded again and again, taking hold of Haley's hand and stroking her hand absentmindedly, just needing to feel her touch, to feel her warmth.

"Hey baby," he said as a last attempt, "You know how you're always telling me how you're not going anywhere? Well, I need to hold you to that right now," he continued through shaky breaths, "Okay? Just….I need you to come back to me. Listen, just…..just move one of your fingers if you can hear me, okay? Just move one of those beautiful fingers, and let me know that you're still here with me."

He looked down at her hand, the hand that was currently placed perfectly between his two hands. He tried his hardest not to blink, not wanting to miss anything and stared down at her hand. His heart pumping fast and hard as his mind filled with hope that his Haley would come back to him. She would listen to him. She always listened to him. She would move just one finger, that's all he needed. Just one finger. He stared long and hard, and there was…

Nothing.

And with that, Nathan Scott, the boy who had grown into a man, burst. He couldn't hold it in any longer. Nathan sat there, by the bedside of his beloved, sobbing, as the thought of how close he was to losing Haley was becoming more and more real.

_Amongst the vending machines and year-old magazines in a place where we only say goodbye_

Nathan walked past the many halls of the hospital, looking at the people and the objects that surrounded him. He looked them, not really taking them in, just walking by them as if they were fleeting. To Nathan, that's exactly what they were. He had to leave Haley's room. He felt like he was suffocating in there. If he stayed in the room, he felt he would lose Haley faster, so he left and found himself walking around aimlessly.

This couldn't be the end. It was something Nathan kept on thinking over and over again. This is not how her life ends. This is not how our lives end. They had been through so much and succeeded and conquered everything that the world had to throw at them. Why couldn't they conquer this? Why couldn't they overthrow this like they had everything else? Just when everything was beginning to look like the perfect picture they always wanted. Nathan was going to Duke University, and Haley, going along with him. They were going to have a son, who was healthy. Everything seemed to be falling into place, but suddenly it all, crashed.

How could he say goodbye?

"_Alright….bye!"_

"_Don't say bye, it makes things to definite, like I'll never see you again or something," Nathan mused, as he lay in his bed. It was the night before he would be married, again, and he was having one final phone conversation with his soon to be wife, again, before he went to bed._

"_We're getting married tomorrow, silly, stop trying to be all romantic. It doesn't suit you at all," Haley teased back, as she lay in bed as well. Nathan's voice still giving her butterflies and a goofy smile plastered on her face._

"_Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Hales," Nathan teased back._

"_Ha ha ha, sarcasm is in my blood, future husband. It sucks for you if it doesn't suit me," Nathan could almost hear Haley sticking her tongue out at him with that comment._

"_I'm serious though, don't say bye or good bye or anything in a different language that means bye because I know that's exactly what you were thinking," Nathan countered, knowing he had cornered her._

"_How do you do that?" Haley asked intrigued._

"_Do what? Be sexy while I'm on the phone? It's something I was born with," Nathan joked. _

"_Well, that too…But no, how do you know exactly what I'm thinking or what I'm about to say?" Haley asked genuinely wanting to know how he did it._

"_Secret." Nathan said plainly._

"_Oh come on! I'm marrying you, mister, that means no secrets!" Haley demanded._

"_Oh, so I guess I should tell you about the stripper that came over earlier courtesy of Skills?" Nathan responded._

"_Oh, you're so funny. Maybe I should give Damien West a call huh?"_

"_Low blow, Hales, low blow," Nathan said feigning hurt._

"_Well, come on tell me how you know!"_

_Nathan laughed wholeheartedly at Haley's childish behavior, "I'll tell you if you promise to never say goodbye."_

"_I promise!" Haley said firmly._

They were never supposed to say 'good bye.' How was he supposed to break a promise that he made Haley make?

_It stung like a violent wind that our memories depend on a faulty camera in our minds_

The raven haired Scott had found himself immersed in memories of Haley, so he hadn't realized that he had made his way to the church that was located in the hospital. Nathan could almost laugh. How could a place that is so calm and peaceful exist in the pandemonium that was the hospital. It was definitely an oxymoron. Ha, oxymoron, definitely a Haley word. God, that girl could really get to him.

Nathan made his way inside the church, and took a seat. It felt odd being here. Somehow closing the door of the church made him escape all the craziness that was going on his heart and his mind. Somehow, being here, had made Nathan strangely calm. He felt protected here.

"_Just breathe, Nathan. Breathe." _

Nathan took a few deep breaths, getting a hold of himself. He had to keep strong. He had run away from Haley because he didn't want her to see him slowly breaking down. He had to show her he was being strong, so she could come back to him, even if it was all a big fat lie. Nathan looked down at his left hand seeing the wedding ring glimmering even in the artificial light. The ring represented the love between Nathan and Haley. Nathan chuckled slightly to himself, something so tiny could never fully exemplify the what Nathan and Haley had. Not a ring, not a tattoo, not a bracelet, not even the rain. It was something unexplainable, something that could not be defined. If one tried to define it, the specialness of their love would be taken away. It had no limits, no bonds, it went on forever.

Always and forever.

_But I knew that you were a truth I would rather lose than to have never lain beside at all_

"I know I did a horrible thing, okay? But I deserved to be punished for that, not Haley. She's a good person. She would be a great mother if you would…." Nathan trailed off, "Look, I know how it must suck, having people always asking for things and never giving anything back. And I know that Keith saved me at that bridge, but Haley….Haley saved me long before the accident. There has to be a miracle left for her, please? Please?" Nathan begged, tears once again streaming down from his eyes down his cheeks, "Don't take her from me. Don't take our child from her."

Nathan closed his eyes, envisioning his wife. He could see her smiling and laughing and giggling, as she was running away from something. Running away from someone. Nathan closed his eyes tighter, willing the vision to continue. He saw himself, running after his wife, but he wasn't alone. There was a blonde haired boy with him. The vision began to get clearer as he saw himself and the young boy catch up to Haley and give her a hug. 'Mamma!' he heard the young blonde haired boy say to Haley, and Nathan opened his eyes in shock.

"Nathan!"

_And I looked around at all the eyes on the ground as the TV entertained itself_

Nathan ran as fast as he could from the church to Haley's hospital room. Peyton had rushed into the small chapel, and the look on Peyton's face said all that needed to be said as Nathan rushed out of the calm and out in the calamity. He didn't bother saying 'excuse me' or walking. His brain wouldn't let him be polite or even follow the rules of the hospital. All he could do was run, as fast as he possibly could to his wife, to his love, to his life. He pushed this person, and ran past that. The hallways seemed endless, and Haley's room seemed to get farther and farther away, until Nathan's heavy footsteps finally stopped in front of a door.

Nathan was at a standstill. Something was stopping him from bursting in to the door and seeing his wife. Nathan closed his eyes, once again seeing the perfect family portrait of him, Haley, and their unnamed son, smiling back at him. This was all Nathan needed to turn the knob. He walked slowly, his feet barely making a sound, as he refused to blink, not wanting any of this to be a dream. He walked closer and closer until he heard that voice…

"Hi," her voice was as angelic as it always was, but the sound of it was all Nathan needed. He stopped dead in his tracks, and all he could do was smile big and wide. Tears of complete joy streaming down his face.

"Hi," he replied back, chuckling slightly. He stood there for a moment not knowing whether the world was playing a cruel joke on him, and when she smiled at him, he knew this was no joke at all. Nathan went to her as fast as he could as he bent down and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead, and hugged her. He didn't want to hold her too tight, afraid he would hurt her, but he still held her as close as he possibly could.

"I love you," he whispered over and over again as he continued to hug her. "I love you so much. I love you I love you I love." He repeated over and over again.

Haley could only laugh, "I love you too," but as soon as the words escaped her lips, a gasp escaped her throat. Suddenly the steady beeps of the machines that populated her hospital room went crazy. The beeping became faster and more frantic.

Nathan quickly leapt up, confused at all the commotion, but before he could even react to what was happening around him, he was being dragged out of Haley's room against his will, as doctors and nurses flanked his wife's side, and took the spot he was just in.

The door closed in front him, signaling the fact that he could not enter.

Signaling, the beginning of the end.

_'Cause there's no comfort in the waiting room_

She was going to die. Haley James Scott was being beckoned by death, and there was nothing that could be done to stop death from conquering.

"There's internal bleeding in the brain. There's no way we can operate, without killing her. She's going to bleed out. We can only slow down the bleeding for so long." Nathan only remembered bits and pieces of his conversation with the doctor, as he found himself sitting by his wife's bedside. "She wants to save the baby. We're going to have an emergency C-Section."

All he could understand was that Haley was dying, but she would be alive long enough to save the baby, and then she would be gone. Nathan finally lifted his head, daring himself to look at his wife. He couldn't wrap his mind around it. Something so beautiful, so perfect, so amazing was dying. It didn't make any sense to him. None at all.

"I love you," was the first thing that escaped Haley's mouth as she tried to speak to her husband. "I'm sorry," was the second.

Nathan shook his head, unable to speak, but letting her know that she shouldn't be apologizing.

"The C-Section is in a half hour," Haley said softly.

"Thirty minutes to spend with you until you're….." Nathan couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Shh," she said as she beckoned him closer to her. He got up from his place by her side and laid down beside her on the hospital bed, holding her close.

"Don't leave…" Nathan whispered as he started crying softly. "Don't leave, please? Don't leave." He said over and over again.

"Nathan…" Haley's voice broke; she was trying her best to stay strong. She couldn't be a blubbering mess, she had to be there for Nathan, especially now. "You're going to be a great father."

_Just nervous pacers bracing for bad news_

"Can you do me a favor?" Haley asked softly.

"Anything," Nathan answered.

"Can you….can you…..I want……I want our son to hear me sing. Will you play him some of my music?" She asked holding back the tears that were begging for release.

"Every night," Nathan answered.

They laid there in silence just appreciating the moments they had together. Suddenly Nathan lifted his head and kissed Haley deeply. It wasn't a kiss filled with lust or want, rather it was one filled with love with need. He needed one last kiss from her, just one last one.

"Just a little something for the road," Nathan said, trying to joke around with her, but it seemed so worthless.

"I hope he has your eyes," he said suddenly, his eyes closed.

"I want him to be exactly like you," she said playfully, "He is a Scott after all."

"He needs to at least have your brain, Hales," Nathan responded.

"That's a must," she mused. "Take care of my boy. Keep all those girls away until he's at least eighteen!"

"Our boy," Nathan responded, and he gave her a soft kiss on the cheek, and placed his hand on her stomach, where their boy currently was.

"Our boy," she agreed placing her hand over his.

"I love you," she said again.

"Always and forever," Nathan finished for her.

_And then the nurse comes round and everyone will lift their heads_

"I'm sorry Mr. Scott, but we're going to have to take Mrs. Scott to her surgery," a nurse said as she entered Haley's room.

Haley kissed Nathan on the forehead one final time, and stared into his eyes, and he stared right back, memorizing every detail of her and everything about her. She gave him a smile, a small one, but a smile indeed, and Nathan returned the favor. They stayed like this for a minute lost in their own world. For just one minute, everything was okay, and Haley wasn't going to die, but just for that minute.

"Name him Jamie," Haley said breaking the silence and the illusion, "Name him James."

Nathan nodded his head, losing his ability to speak. He got up from the hospital bed as he helped the nurse place Haley in the wheelchair that was going to take her to her final resting place. Nathan stood where he was watching as she was being rolled away out of the room.

"I love you Haley James Scott," he said suddenly, but before Haley could respond, she was wheeled out of the room, and the door was shut forever.

_But I'm thinking of what Sarah said that __**"Love is watching someone die"**_

So, who's going to watch you die?

* * *

P.S. I'm not a med student, I'm a law student, so I know my medical jargon in mediocre at best, and I give my apologies if none of the medical stuff makes sense. It was mostly just to move along the plot, etc etc. I hope you still enjoyed it!


End file.
